Jersey City officials take pride in the notion that sooner rather than later the city will overtake Newark with the largest population in New Jersey.

PATH officials don't share in their excitement, the Wall Street Journal reported. More people mean the trains -- namely the PATH system that connects Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken to Manhattan -- will get even more crowded in the coming years.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the PATH system, says that Jersey City is recklessly overdeveloping, and that's causing a strain on the system, the report said.

"It's irresponsible for a city to allow indiscriminate growth that's going to tax public infrastructure beyond its capability," Port Authority Chairman John Degnan told the Wall Street Journal.

It's true that the crane has become of the unofficial city bird, with numerous high-rise residential buildings going up Downtown and in Journal Square. But Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop isn't apologizing.

He says it's Port Authority responsibility to keep up with the growth of Hudson County.

The Wall Street Journal report says that upgrades to the PATH system aren't expected until 2018 at the earliest.

So, there may be little relief for people like 24-year-old Elliot Kelly, a regular on the PATH.

"It's never nice to make a commute when you're 3 centimeters from someone else's body," he told the newspaper.